USA: Nissan Leaf owners still have no answers from company after dramatic loss of battery capacity

The eco-friendly Nissan Leaf has only been on the roads for about two years, but already owners have been experiencing a serious problem, and so far the company is slow to fix it.

The owners went out on a limb to invest in the new technology and save money on gas, but some say at this point their good intentions have nearly backfired. Their new cars can no longer go the distance they used to just a year ago.

Arizona Leaf owners have contacted the Better Business Bureau, Consumer Reports and Arizona’s Attorney General because they’re not getting very far with Nissan. They say a lawsuit may be next.

A Nissan spokesperson says there are 13,000 Leafs on the road, and 400 of them are in Arizona.

Recently, owners of the all-electric Leaf here in the desert have been experiencing a dramatic drop of around 30 percent in range of how far they can drive on a fully-charged battery.

When CBS 5 first aired their story two months ago, Nissan’s Mark Perry said the issue was not considered a problem and that gradual battery capacity loss is normal. He said the company was investigating only five complaints and all of them are in Arizona.

But the problem it seems is much bigger than that and there’s been nothing gradual about it, according to several Leaf owners.

“We have records online of over 80 cars now complaining of significant capacity loss and they all seem to be focused in the hotter climates,” said Mason Convey, one of the owners leading the charge to get answers from Nissan.

On mynissanleaf.com there are 375 pages of owners logging complaints and weighing in on the problem.

They say anywhere from one to four of the 12 bars on their battery capacity gauge have simply vanished, and they believe the desert southwest’s extreme heat is baking the batteries.
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